I'm Not Crying

Yesterday, my church family worshipped together for the first time in months. It was great to see everyone again. Laughing, talking, loving. And then the first worship song began to play and everybody's focus changed.

We were together again, singing to the God we love. It was beautiful and I fought back tears, voice cracking amidst all the love for our Savior.

Do you have a particular worship song that hits a little deeper than the rest? One that has a special meaning or tugs deep at your heart? Maybe it depends on the day or the particular mood you're in.

I have a few. Chris Tomlin's Love Ran Red and Andrew Peterson's Is He Worthy? are up there. Amazing Grace is too and How Great Thou Art. But yesterday the song that tugged at my heart the most was Jesus, All For Jesus.

There is one part of the song that always gets me. These are the words.

For it's only in Your will that I am free

For it's only in Your will that I am free

Jesus, all for Jesus

All I am and have and ever hope to be

Think about that first line for a moment. Isn't that true? If we are not "in God's will", whose will are we in? Our own? Satan's It's hard to tell sometimes. But if we are in God's will there is only 100% pure love and adoration for our King.

It doesn't really matter what song we will be singing. One day all of God's children will be worshipping . . . together. We will sing songs together. Everyone will be singing on key. and everyone will be worshipping in God's will. Free from all the struggles we now bring with us to church. We will worship in spirit and in truth and we will look around and see our church families next to us and everything . . . EVERTHING . . . will be perfect.

"Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." - John 4:21-24

Jesus, All For Jesus - Robin Mark

The Three Remaining Festivals

The next big event on God's end times calendar can happen at any time now. The signs of it's imminence are all around us. We were told. Why haven't we listened?

Here's a Bible reading tip for you. Don't read the Old Testament without first planting your feet firmly in The New - and vice versa. You will miss so much! Like this little treasure that many pass by while reading Exodus.

“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16 and the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field." - Exodus 23:14-16

That passage seems rather uninteresting . . . unless you have read the New Testament. Then it becomes truly amazing!

There are seven festivals that God informed Moses of that must be observed - for all time. What's interesting is that each of these festivals has prophetic significance. Of the seven festivals, God has already fulfilled four of them. All of them fulfilled, in order. The first three fulfilled by Jesus, the fourth with the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. There are three festivals which remain unfulfilled - the Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, The Feast of Tabernacles.

Of those three, the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) is up next. This verse from 1 Corinthians gives us a clue as to what happens on that day.

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

The Rapture.

Will we be found ready, doing the Lord's work? It will happen "in the twinkling of an eye."

This year, Rosh Hashanah begins Friday, September 18th and ends on Sunday, September 20th. The world certainly seems in the throws of birth pains, evil is called good and good, evil. It may not happen this year, or the next, but I would be willing to bet that the rapture happens during Rosh Hashanah . . . at the sound . . . of a trumpet.

The other two remaining festivals have End times significance as well. The Day of Atonement is when Jesus judges the world and puts everyone in their rightful place - heaven or hell. And the Feast of Tabernacles is when God FINALLY dwells with His people.

All the answers to life and death are in the Bible. Few study it in comparison to the rest of "the world." Be reading, be ready, for our redemption draws near.

Prophetic Fulfillment of the Biblical Feasts

The Great Equalizer?

When golfers play in a league they often use a handicap scoring system. It makes things easier for ANYONE to win. What if Jesus did that?

In Paul's letter to the church in Corinth he encourages all believers to live their lives, as if trying to win the race.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." - 1 Corinthians 9/24


Is Paul saying that we are in a race for our salvation? No. What he is telling us is to live our lives worthy of our calling as Christians. Basically, "You're Christians. Act live it!"

There is no handicapping system to gain access to heaven. Either you're in or you're out. Either you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, you have repented and have made Jesus Lord of your life . . . or you have not.

Salvation has a very simple scoring card. It's a single check box. Is this person a believer in The Lord, Jesus Christ? Yes? Or no?

We can SAY we are. But Jesus gets to check the box, not us.

Suddenly Paul's verse makes a little more sense. Paul is encouraging us to live our lives in such a way that, when Jesus looks into our hearts, he will smile and check "YES".

True Equality

When I was much younger I heard a local radio station  advertising for an account manager position at its station. At the end of the ad the voice said, "We are both and equal opportunity and an affirmative action employer."

So, what' s wrong with that? It all sounds right. Think about it for a minute.

Their statement is completely impossible! You can be one or the other, but you can't be both.

Lots of people and companies are trying to please all of the people all of the time. Abraham Lincoln knew that.

"You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time." - Abraham Lincoln

We live in a people-pleasin' society where everyone wants to give each other a participation trophy. It seems all warm and fuzzy when the fat kid down the street gets one of those feel-good trophies at a track meet in the 100-yard dash. Is that trophy really benefiting that kid?

Our problem in society is that we are trying to please the wrong people. We are trying to please each other when we should be trying to please God.

What if we gave a pass to a certain people group at a stop signs? How would that work? Look at our politicians in Washington. They make laws. But they only make them for us, not for themselves. Is THAT right? Congress gives out participation trophies . . . to themselves.

God doesn't give out participation trophies. He doesn't look at the color of your skin or give you a pass because you've had a hard life. God looks at our souls. Are we His? Or no? That's it. DO you know Jesus? Yes/No.

"For God does not show favoritism." - Romans 2:11

"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility," - Ephesians 2:14

"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes." - Deuteronomy 10:17

When I was in high school I remember watching Star Trek's Captain Kirk utter these words to a distant civilization that had somehow stumbled upon a copy of the United States Constitution. Kirk's words have stuck with me all these years. Good words. True words.

"These words, and the words that follow, are not written only for the Yangs but for the Comms as well. They must apply to everyone or they mean nothing! Do you understand?"

Captain Kirk's Constitutional Speech

Observations of a Sick Boy

There are many things I have discovered while being sick. Some of them are really good, some unexpected, and others were rather disappointing. Some downright depressing. But the good gratefully has seemed to outweigh the bad and God, my King, is ALWAYS in control.

My relationship with God has definitely improved. Although reading has decreased dramatically, daily conversations, minute-by-minute chats have soared in both frequency and intensity. Even LOOKING at my Bible has proven beneficial.

My appreciation for my wife has grown massively. Just lying around watching what she does all day has been tiring. She works pretty much full time, which is amazing, but throw in her daily chores and the spare time things he likes to do and she's really getting tired. Now, add in all MY daily chores, needs, trips to the hospital and . . . wow.

Probably the saddest things I have observed during this week-long illness has been in my relationships. My relationship stock has crashed! I haven't really let a lot of people know that I am sick. I'm not someone who does that really. But I DO love all of my relationships. Those are pretty much gone.

Food tastes better. I should be gaining weight, but I'm not. I've lost 16% of my body weight. I am free to eat!! Anyone wanna go for a burger? HMU!

Turn off the television. It will make 25% of your worries and fears disappear. IMMEDIATELY!

I'm currently running low on energy so I have to end this post by encouraging you this these ways:

• Never take your relationships for granted - whether with God, your spouse or friends, relationships are the most precious things we get in this life. Especially our relationship with God.
• Don't think your doctors and nurses are able to read your mind. They can't. Just like in any good relationship, there must be trust. Tell them everything. Expect the same from them.
• Offer appreciation when someone does something for you. No matter how small. It's an act of service. They didn't HAVE to do that. Then where would you be?

I will leave you today with my favorite verse. I have written about it many times. Call it my life verse if you will.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Finding Neo

Hi! I have been sick for the past week or so. However, I am not feeling sick today. "People, let me tell you 'bout my Best Friend."

As I reflect back on my illness, which I still have, it is interesting as I observe my symptoms over time.

High fever, beat it down with couple Tylenol, repeat, repeat, repeat. No energy. No excitement in life.

What an example of the world we live in today. One plague after another. Lord, have mercy. He WILL be merciful . . . to those who love Him.

Over a week ago I contacted the local hospital. I'll never do THAT again! Lol! I had gone through their Covid-19 symptom checker and even though I had no respiratory symptoms WHAT SO EVER they told me I needed to come in to be tested. Fine.

When I got there it was all about Covid-19. Nothing else. No answers for 24-48 hours. I answered all of their covid questions so much I had them all memorized and threw five answers back at them all at once. That was fun. Sort of.

Even though I knew I didn't have it, they were still asking me about it. Even after the test came back negative. Totally clear.

This morning as I was "waking up" I thought about my favorite movie The Matrix. There is a scene where Neo (neo means New) is called to this shady, drug infested, sexually charged bar by Morpheus (morph - a change). Neo does not join in, standing off to the side.

Suddenly Neo is approached my someone - Trinity (you know who THEY are). She gets REALLY close and whispers in his ear the answer to a question he's been asking his whole life.

God calls us unto Himself. Jesus told us that "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them." - John 6:44

I finally got them to test me for Lyme's Disease - the test I wanted from the beginning. I won't know for another 24-48 hours of course. But they gave me Doxycycline. I took one dose last night at 7:00. My fever broke, my temperature dropped and I woke up this morning with no symptoms at all. None.

That brings me to the story about my Best Friend. Yes, His name is Jesus.

Jesus is the cure for this sick world we live in. You got a question? Need some hope? Jesus IS the answer. I kid you not. I am grateful to God this morning for getting the doctors to finally realize the results of their own tests and to try something else. And that was it.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

God is so incredible. If you don't know Him, please do! He will bless you in SO many ways.

The Courtship of Eddie's Father Intro

Neo Meets Trinity - The Matrix

Teach

We never know when it is our turn to become a teacher. Have you had any teachable moments recently?

The apostle Paul gave us all some wise words to his second letter to Timothy, his pupil.

"You have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance," - 2 Timothy 3:10

"You must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them," - 2 Timothy 3:14

I run a disc golf league in our town. Player ages range from 49 to 17. When I noticed one of the younger players doing something incorrectly I walked up to him and said, "Watch what Josh does and how he does it."

The inexperienced learn from the experienced. Those lacking in knowledge learn from the wise.

When we see someone doing something wrong or incorrect, what do we do? There are two options. Correct them or ignore them. Ignoring things doesn't help that person. Correcting does, if done in a loving manner.

"My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." - Proverbs 3:11-12

The key to learning depends on the quality of the teacher, yes. But it also depends upon the willingness of the student to learn. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. So it is with many things. You can own a Bible but if you don't read it, what good is it?

Consider the teachings you receive in life. Are they worthy? Are they true? If they are, then follow those teachings because, as you follow and learn, it won't be long before you become the teacher. And teachers are held to a higher standard because their importance to us all. Teach well my children.

"Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." - James 3:1

Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills and Nash

Roll With It

We've sure had a lot of disruptions in our lives lately, haven't we? Well, here's one more my wife and I are adding to the list. The Cardinal Family.

First we've had the Covid-19 thing, then the murder hornets, now people are rioting everywhere and there's talk about defunding the police. It's a crazy world!

It was made even crazier last month when mama cardinal built a nest right outside our living room window. My wife and I love our backyard birds. But these feathered friends of ours are really cramping our lifestyle.

We can't go outside the front garage service door because the nest is right there, so we go out the back door. That was proving tricky too because Mr. and Mrs. Robin built a nest on our back door light. Thankfully they moved to a bush on the other end of the house, by the dryer vent where everything spells April fresh.

How do we handle all the disruptions that life brings us? I guess we could complain about it. That's what everybody does on Facebook and Twitter. It doesn't seem to accomplish anything except making people mad.

I guess my wife and I could just use the garage door like we always did. Forget about those darned birds! But that would disturb our guests. Remember, we love our birds.

And there you have it. That's our story of disruption, AND society's answer. Did you catch it? It's love!

My wife and I chose to place the bird's needs above our own. We don't really NEED to use that door. We just take the long way around the garage when we go out. We chose to just roll with it. A lot of stuff can be minimized by simply rolling with it rather than complaining about it.

True, there's SOME stuff going on that we just can't "roll with" but no matter the situation, there is always an opportunity to love our neighbor. That is God's first and greatest command!

I kind of think God wants us to roll with most of life's things and turn to Him in prayer for the rest. Let HIM roll with it!

"Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" - Psalm 118:5-6

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." - James 1:12

"When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul." - Psalm 94:19

Roll With It - Stevie Winwood

We Can't Help It

What makes us the way we are? I mean, we all start out basically the same, right? But then we change. Why? How?

Science and psychology provide SOME answers. Genetics, environment, socio-economic conditions. Even location and personal relationships can have an effect. But the biggest factor, by far, is our deep-seated desire . . . to sin.

Look at our world today. Okay, maybe not. It's scary. Everywhere we look we see corruption and unrest, violence and injustice. And it's all of our own doing. Ours, and Satan's.

We have always been like this. Since Adam and Eve ate those pricey apples in the garden. And as much as we think we might have the perfect solution for all of mankind's problems, one person's solution is just as bad and ineffective as the next. We still sin.

Do you remember the story about the frog and the scorpion? It's a story about misguided trust and our fallen nature.

A scorpion, which cannot swim, asks a frog to carry it across a river on the frog's back. The frog hesitates, afraid of being stung by the scorpion, but the scorpion argues that if it did that, they would both drown. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung the frog despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: "I couldn't help it. It's in my nature."

The only one who can help our fallen nature is Jesus. Revelation calls Him "the bright morning star."

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." - Revelation 22:16

Do you remember the 90's power ballad Send Me An Angel from the German band The Scorpions? Here's the chorus:

Here I am
Will you send me an angel?
Here I am
In the land of the morning star

Will you pray with me right now?

Father, we need an angel. We need YOU! We try and try and we still can't get anything right. We are a bunch of pitiful hypocrites - saying one thing and doing another. We are stiff-necked, helpless and hopeless. Hopeless, that is, if we don't have you, our Savior. Save us from ourselves we pray. Here we are Lord. Send us an angel. You are our only hope. In the merciful name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Send Me An Angel -Scorpions

The Four P's

We are an impatient lot - we humans. Just like the Queen song says, "We want it all, and we want it now." Haven't people ever heard of the saying, "Good things come to those who wait?"

Do you have patience? No? Got tired of waiting for it, huh?

I had a brief cognitive thought yesterday and came up with this - The Four P's - Prayer, Patience, Provision and Praise.

I am building a tiny home in our yard but I hit a snag - me. I think I got burned out. Anyway, I prayed about it, asking God to provide someone that could finish it. Anybody.

Then the phone rang and it was a friend of mine who wanted to talk about the tiny house. Someone she knew was interesting in tiny houses and providing low income housing in our area. Interesting.

A few days later my wife needed a shed built fir the community garden she is in charge of. She volunteered me to build it along with another guy. So, the shed building took place yesterday and the day before. Guess what. This guy I am working with really like tiny houses and living off the grid. He's a carpenter. Do you see God's hand in this?

As we were cleaning up the job site my new friend said this to me, "If you ever need any help with finishing off your tiny house, I'd be interested. Call me."

Well, there it was. I prayed. I was patient and God provided. All that's left is the praise. Let us praise God with every word that comes out of our mouths, with every action we take.

"Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?" - Psalm 8:1-4

Famous One - Chris Tomlin

Divided Against Itself

I wasn't sure what to write about this morning, until I saw this picture. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture speaks volumes.

This picture was taken last night when a line of thunderstorms ripped through our state. The flag flies at the Acuity Insurance headquarters in Sheboygan, WI.

The flag is 70'x140' and is the world's largest free-flying American flag. The storm ripped the flag in two. Spilt the flag right down the middle. Why am I even typing words? The story is already written.

Jesus said these words that seem applicable to our nation today. All the civil unrest has split our great country right down the middle.

"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house." - Mark 3:24-27

We are divided against ourselves. What will be the outcome from all this unrest? Only God knows for sure. I think God sent America a message last night. The image of this flag, OUR flag, split in two, is a powerful visual - a warning perhaps - for what awaits a country that has turned its back on God.

What is needed is a revival of sorts. We, the American people, need to repent and turn to God. We need to stop "ripping" each other down and start lifting each other up. And we need to pray! Oh, dear Lord, we need to pray desperately.

This great flag can be repaired. So can this great nation. But We The People are the ones who have to do it. We have to WANT to do it. If we don't, we WILL fall. The choice is ours.

What then shall we do? Continue to fight and war against each other? Or will we stop and humble ourselves before God? It is our choice. It is YOUR choice. What will we do?

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" - James 4:1

The Illusion of Faith

We can go through life thinking we have a pretty good grasp on things but then something happens and we begin to see things differently.

This picture of Jesus for example. It's actually TWO pictures of Jesus. And did you notice all the crosses? And the two Marys holding each other? And the ghostly face looking on? Or is it TWO faces?

Sometimes things appear to be one way when, if we look at things from a different point of view, the can actuality be something different. The picture is called an illusion. The change in perspective is called a transformation.

Hardly anyone thought Jesus was anything special the night of His birth. Mary, Joseph, some wise men and some shepherds. Most people who encountered baby Jesus and His parents thought they were just another Jewish family. Then Jesus began performing miracles and people's opinions changed.

Some however refused to be swayed, even in the midst of all His miracles. They never believed Jesus was who He said He was, even with all the undeniable evidence.

What made YOU change your mind about Jesus? We are born with no opinion about Him. What happened to change our minds/

The disciples scattered when Jesus was crucified. They feared for their lives. All that changed when they encountered the risen Christ. They all went to their death defending Jesus and sharing the Gospel with everyone they met.

Churches can be filled with people who say they believe in Jesus but they actually know very little about Him. They don't follow His commands. They promote abortion and homosexuality as just choices to be made and not sin. They don't know Jesus.

Each of us needed a change in our point of view at some point. I was 53 years old before I changed. What did it for you?

During this crazy time we are living in, we really need Jesus in our lives. We need to examine out point of view to make sure it is correct. Do we really believe? Or do we simply worship a Jesus of our own creation? One who lines up with our own personal beliefs?

In the Book of Revelation Jesus wrote this letter to Sardis, The Dead Church.

“I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you." - Revelation 3:1-3

Be watchful for what comes into your mind and heart as truth. Examine it to make sure it is true. Then hold fast to it - strengthen it as Jesus said. But first make sure what you belief is the truth because, otherwise, you will be living a lie.

And how do we know what the truth is? You will not find truth on the news or in our schools and universities. You may not even find it in your church. The truth of God is in His written word, in the original manuscripts. Truth is like buried treasure. We must dig before we can find it. Read! Study! Pray for the truth to be revealed to your heart! You WILL find it.